Simple Damage Control Aboard

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Simple Damage Control AboardBy

Marc A. Barredo

Damage control aboard ship involves any prudent action that will; prevent or reduceexpected damage to the ship, stabilize the situation caused by the damage, reduce ornegate the effects of damage to the ship after is has occurred. The main purpose ofdamage control is to keep the ship afloat and to return to port for reparation with theminimal loss of property or life. The necessity for the practice of damage controlaboard ship is not limited to just plugging and patching holes in the hull plating; anaccident aboard ship demands an aggressive systematic response by the professionalmariners aboard.

DAMAGE CONTROL

The damage control organization aboard ship must be able to meet the followingobjectives:

Clearly defined damage control strategies

1. Line of action before the damage occurs2. Reduce the effects of damage after it has occurred3. Emergency repairs to damage caused by accident4. Restoration of services to ship after damage has occurred

Validated damage control tactics

1. Trained personnel2. Available equipment3. Available materials4. Desired results

The crews ability to respond to damage caused by accident or intention will dependon the practical knowledge and skills of the damage control organization aboardship. It is very important that all mariners understand their duties and responsibilitiesas part of the damage control organization aboard and that damage control must beaggressive and systematic to be effective.


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Damage control involves all aspects of damage that a ship may encounter by accident,or by plan, in port or underway, such as:

1. Fire & Explosion

2. Collision3. Flooding4. Grounding5. Hostile action directed at the ship

Mariners must be knowledgeable about all aspect of the ship on which they work andnot just with their berthing space, mess deck, workstation, and the location of thedisbursing office. When the emergency signal is sounded aboard, all crewmembers willbe called upon to perform in areas outside their normal workstation. This will bedetermined by which zone aboard the perceived damage has initially occurred andthe location and the extent of the actual damage, and if the damage is spreading toother parts of the ship.

The vital damage control systems aboard ship include:

1. Communications2. Emergency power3. Pumping system4. Fire main

5. Drainage system

Crewmembers, to be effective damage control personnel, assigned to the shipsemergency squad, must be able to find their way about the ship under adversecondition. This can be learned through specialized training, repetitive exercises, andunscheduled drills.

Emergency Lockers

When a ship is designed then built, emergency lockers are built into the ship at aspecific location for numerous reasons. The number of lockers may be determined bythe type and class of ship and the number of personnel assigned to the ship. A typicalmerchant ship may have one primary locker, labeled EMERGENCY SQUADEQUIPMENT, that is well equipped and a secondary locker containing the barenecessities, but, still adequate for most emergencies aboard.


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Each emergency locker is manned by members of the emergency squad comprised ofvarious crewmembers that possess specific knowledge, skills, and training for any typeof damage control work.

Duties of Emergency Squad

The emergency squad must have the ability to:

1. Accurately assess and report damage2. Maintain emergency squad integrity3. Maintain and restore ships vital functions4. Isolate, control and extinguish fire5. Isolate and control flooding of the ship6. Make emergency repairs to the ships structures and hull7. Remove water and unnecessary weight from the ship8. Maintain ships seaworthiness9. Administer first aid/CPR and move injured crew members

Each emergency locker has a locker leader, usually the first assistant engineer. Thesecond person in charge of an emergency squad is, usually the third officer, who is thesquad leader at the scene, and the boatswain is designated the scene leader.

Assessment and Reporting Damage

Initially, an investigator, make a quick assessment of any apparent damage to theships hull, structures, and systems. The investigator must have a good workingknowledge of the ship and be experienced in the principles of investigating damage,assessment of damage, and reporting damage. When in doubt, the investigator mustreport what is seen, heard, smelt and felt.

Emergency Repairs

Emergency repairs are repairs to the ship that are temporary in purpose, but,absolutely necessary to allow the ship to maintain seaworthiness to return to port forpermanent repairs. Emergency repairs are made with materials specifically carried forsuch occasions or with material readily available and adaptable at the time of need torepair the damage. The primary objective is to keep the ship afloat by maintainingthe ships watertight integrity and operational capabilities.


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Damage Control Repair Bags

At the repair locker, small bags made of canvas or other durable material, are neatlypacked with items necessary to make specific repairs that are easily moved to the

location of need, yet, small enough to be carried to the scene and fit through deckscuttles and hatches with little effort. The following are typical gear bags and thecontents of each kit may vary according to need:

1. Investigators gear bag2. Electrical repair bag3. Plugging bag4. Pipe-patching bag5. Shoring bag6. Plugging and Patching bag

The two principles for effecting temporary repairs to a hole in the piping system orships hull is to:

1. Decrease the size of the hole to reduce the flow of liquid or,2. Cover the hole to reduce the flow of liquid

In both principles, the crewmember is simply reducing the size of the hole, the area,through which water can enter into the ship.

Temporary repairs do not require sophisticated state of the art tools and otherexpensive equipment which may be nice to have, but not necessary. They involve thepractical application of the two principles of plugging and patching using wood,prefabricated patches and plugs, or other readily available materials aboard that areadaptable to the situation at hand.Shoring

Shoring is primarily used to support and/or strengthen weakened ships structures.

Shores may be either wood or metal, but primarily wood.

First Aid Station

These stations are usually manned by personnel with medical training and convenientlylocated so injured personnel may receive immediate medical treatment.


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Emergency Communications

Communication is critical to the damage control organization. Without strict controlof communication, the damage-control organization would quickly break down. The

inability to communicate with the various responding personnel will directly impactthe ability to coordinate operations.

Watertight Integrity

The single most important aspect of ships construction is the ability to maintainwatertight integrity that will improve the ships chances to survive. The shipsstructure and hull may suffer damage from an accident or intentional damage to thevessel, but if sufficient watertight integrity is maintained, the ship will stay afloat.

Making Entry into A Closed Compartment

All watertight closures such as; watertight doors, hatches, and scuttles must never beopened until properly checked for signs of fire and flooding on the other side of thestructure. This is to limit the unnecessary spread of fire or flooding to othercompartment by the opening of intact watertight doors, hatches, and scuttles. Oncewatertight closures have been made, compartments should never be opened until thedamage control officer has granted permission. Always be alert and cautious for signthat would contraindicate opening the compartment.

Closing and Opening Watertight Doors

Watertight doors, hatches, and scuttles must be properly dogged down to make theprotected compartments watertight. Access plate to double bottoms must be properlyfitted with a gasket and bolted down at all times, except when being tested, cleaned,inspected or preserved. When no work is being performed in the double bottoms,they must be bolted shut to preserve the ships watertight integrity.

All watertight closures must not be abused, damaged, or neglected in anyway.Periodic inspection and maintenance must be performed to insure that the closuresfunction as designed. To properly seat a watertight closure, set the dogs opposite thehinges, with enough pressure to keep the knife-edge and the gasket material incontact. Then set the dogs on the hinged side of the closure to obtain uniformpressure all around the knife-edge and gasket material. To open a watertight closure,start with the dogs on the hinged side of the closure. This allows the special hinges to


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lift away form the knife-edge if there is excessive pressure from air, or, waterpressure and prevents the closure from blowing open. This prudent action allows forquick closure should adverse conditions be indicated.

The heaviest and strongest doors, normally located below the main deck, aredesignated as watertight doors (WTD). These doors are integral parts of watertightbulkheads of compartments. These doors may have 6-10 individual dogs, or, may havea single handle that closes all the dogs at the same time, known as single quick-actingwatertight doors.

Hatchways are access opening in the decks and hatches are the coverings for thehatchways. Coamings, rise from the deck, encircle the hatchway to keep water anddirt from falling into the compartment when the hatch cover is left secured in theopen position. Hatches may be secured in any number of ways such as securing bars orholdbacks. They may have quick-acting control wheels or may have individual dogs ordrop bolts to firmly secure the hatch cover in the closed position. Quick-acting escapescuttles are provided for rapid egress or access through a hatch.

Manholes are the covers to the potable water tanks, ballast tanks, fuel tanks, and voidspaces. They are secured by bolting steel plates with gasket material over theopenings. Really old ships may have hinged manhole covers, dogs, or drop bolts.Manholes may also be found in bulkheads leading to void spaces or chain lockers.

Summary

If the interior of the ship was just one big open space, a small one-inch diameterhole, 10 feet below the waterline will eventually cause the ship to flood, fill withwater, and sink. To prevent such flooding from occurring, the interior of the ship isdivided into watertight zones and compartments utilizing specially designed structuressuch as; watertight bulkhead, decks, and doors.

By design, most large ships can be made unsinkable, if the watertight integrity of the

ship is maintained. This single element of the ships design can easily make or break adamage control organization aboard ship. No matter how much talking, planning,training, and purchasing of expensive equipment takes place, the merits of damagecontrol is lost simply by the failure of the ships crew to make all watertight closuresat the sounding of the emergency signal.


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Documents

Simple Damage Control Aboard